High School

NEW HAVEN — It was a night to remember for Lilly Martin and the rest of the St. Paul High girls swim team at the Class S state championships at Southern Connecticut State University.

Martin placed first in the 100-yard butterfly in 59.87 seconds, second in the 200 individual medley (2:11.96) and was a member of the third-place 200 free and fourth-place 400 free relays.

The junior, who clocked personal bests in both individual events, said she was "superexcited."

Martin and the rest of the Falcons were also excited about their sixth-place finish as a team. Lauralton Hall cruised to victory with 801 points, while St. Paul had 267.

"This is awesome for us," said coach Meegan Martin. "We're never in the top 10."

St. Paul finished only eight points shy of the top five. "I'm really impressed," said Lilly Martin. "We had freshmen stepping up for us this year. It's really good."

Two of the freshmen were Kim Hylan and Sarah Bowes. Hylan swam to a second-place finish in the 200 freestyle (2:01.41), and Bowes earned fifth in the 50 freestyle (25.91). Hylan and Bowes were also members of both relays, along with Martin and Gabriella Houle.

"I just wanted them to swim their best times," explained Meegan Martin. "I wanted to see an improvement."

The St. Paul coach definitely saw the improvement she was looking for and left Southern's Moore Fieldhouse extremely satisfied with her team's performance.

Other top area performers at the meet included Brittany Steinfeld and Natalie Moreau of Holy Cross. Steinfeld finished with third-place finishes in the 200 IM (2:13.93) and the 100 breaststroke (1:09.03), while Moreau earned third in the 100 freestyle (54.78) and fourth in the 100 breaststroke (1:09.81).

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